DRC journalist found dead after missing for 12 days

Abuja, Nigeria, May 23, 2013--Authorities in the
Democratic Republic of Congo should identify the motive behind the murder of a radio
presenter who was found on Friday after being missing for 12 days, the
Committee to Protect Journalists said today.

Guillain Chanjabo, 58, a presenter with youth-based
community station Radio Canal Revelation, was last
seen on May 5 while he was on his way to the radio station in the
northeastern city of Bunia, news reports said. He was found partially clothed
with stab wounds in his head, back, stomach, and legs in the Ngezi River, a few
miles from Bunia, according to news reports and his employer. Jacques Sezabo, the medical director of Bunia's General
Hospital, told local journalists that he had also been strangled, the reports
said.

Richard Pituwa, director of the station,told CPJ that Chanjabo, a volunteer with
the station since 2004, had rarely undertaken reporting assignments on sensitive
topics but mainly translated and presented programs in Swahili. The programs focused
on general issues including politics, corruption, impunity, crime, and human
rights abuses.

Chanjabo's motorcycle was found
at a mechanic's workshop on May 7, which prompted the police to detain some
individuals for questioning, according to local journalists and news
reports. No one was charged.

The motive for the murder was not immediately clear,
local journalists told CPJ. Pituwa said Chanjabo had once received
death threats and was stabbed with a knife about five months ago on his way home
in a dangerous part of the city, but that the journalist had not wanted the
case to be investigated, Pituwa said.

The state prosecutor's office is investigating the
murder, Gracien Iracan, editor of Radio Canal Revelation, told CPJ.

"We express our heartfelt condolences to the
family, friends, and colleagues of Guillain Chanjabo," said Peter Nkanga,
CPJ's West Africa Consultant. "Congolese authorities must thoroughly
investigate this terrible killing, identify the motive, and bring the
perpetrators to justice."

While Chanjabo was missing, Congolese journalists had
staged a peaceful protest in Bunia, while media stations suspended their
broadcasts, to show concern for the missing journalist and to call on the
government to launch an investigation, news reports
said.